Timing device.



C J. KULLMEH.

TIMING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I6. I915.

1,196,550. lzlfvlltvdAug. 29, 1916.

flTTOfFNEY CHARLES J. KUI-JLMER, 0F SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

TIMING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters ratent.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

Application filed March 16, 1915. Serial No. 14,716.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. KULLMER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Timing Devices, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in timing devices for culinary and other uses in which it is desired to attract the attention of the user at the end of any predetermined fractional period of any hour. a M

It, therefore, involves the use of a suitable alarm and a manually adjusted time-setting device which is chronometer-actuated when released from manual restraint to cause the operation of the alarm at the end of the time period for which it is set.

The main object is to provide the household, and particularly the culinary department, with a simple chronometer-actuated reminder adapted to be instantly set for operation at the end of any predetermined fraction of an hour for timing certain culinary operations, such as cooking and baking, thus permitting the user to attend to other duties with theassurance that attention will be called to the operation for which the timing-device is set at the end of such interval of time.

Another object is to permit this time-setting device to be applied to an ordinary alarm clock without disturbing the usual relation between the alarm and the clock, thus permitting the same alarm to be used in the usual manner and also in connection with the timing device.

Other objects and uses relating to specific parts of the apparatus will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation; on a reduced scale of an alarm clock embodying the features of my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged rear elevation, partly broken away. of the same clock except that the bell is omitted. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional "iew taken in the plane of line 33. Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an inner face'view of the rotarily adjustable timing-disk showing the sliding pawl thereon for engagement with the teeth of its drivinggear. Fig. 5 is a face view of a portion of the detent and cams for restraining the operation of the alarm mechanism and for restoring the tripping device for the detent to its normal position. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view taken on line (56, Fig. 2.

As illustrated, this timing-device is used in connection with an alarm clock 1 having the usual clock train 2 driven by a spring motor 3 and also having the usual alarm train -4.- driven by a separate spring motor 5-, the clock train and alarm train together with the motors, being mounted in and upon a suitable frame 6 which in turn is inclosed within a circular case 7 having a dial 8 and a transparent cover plate 9, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

An alarm consisting, in this instance, of a bell -10- is mounted upon the clock and adapted to be operated by a vibratory hammer 11 which in turn is secured to a rock shaft --12 constituting a part of the alarm train, the action of which is controlled by the usual escapement pawl 13 acting upon the teeth of a ratchet wheel 14, thereby rocking the shaft 12 alternately and in opposite directions and imparting similar vibratory movement to the hammer 11 to ring the alarm 10.

The clock train 2--is governed in the usual manner not necessary to herein illustrate or describe and is suitably geared to a minute spindle 15 and an hour spindle -16, said minute spindle being journaled in the frame 6 and extends through a central opening in the dial 8-, while the hour spindle 16 is journaled upon the front end of the minute spindle co-axial therewith and also extends through the central opening in the dial, said spindles being provided, respectively, with a minute hand 17 and an hour hand 18 operating in the well known manner around the dial to indicate time.

Although I have shown only such'parts of an alarm clock as have direct connection with my invention, it is to be understood tional period of any hour or at the end of any predetermined number of minutes, and for this purpose, is driven directly from the minute spindle -15 which, in this instance, is tubular and provided at its rear end with a toothed wheel or gear 19- rigid thereon to turn therewith. Within the minute spindle 15 is loosely journaled a shaft 20 extending therethrough from end to end and having its front end extended through a central opening -21- in the transparent cover plate -9 and provided with an index finger -22 having a hand-piece 23 by which it may be adjusted manually around the dial 8 in close proximity to the outer face of the cover plate 9 where it is always accessible to the user without in anyway interfering with the minute and hour hands 17- and 18 of the clock. A disk 24: is secured to the rear end of the shaft 20- to rotate therewith and is provided with a radially sliding pawl -25 having a tooth -i26 adapted to interlock with the teeth of the toothed wheel 19 at any point in the periphery of said wheel, the inner faces of the tooth 26 being beveled in opposite directions to allow it to travel across and upon the face of the teeth of the wheel -l9 when the disk is being rotated through the medium of the index finger -22 and shaft '':20 in setting the device attached to the dlsk and its other end engaged with the pawl, as shown in Fig. 4. When the pawl 25 is retracted by the spring -29 to the limit of its movement in one direction for holding its tooth 26 in engagement with the teeth of the wheel -19- the outer edge of its heel 30 is substantially coincident with the periphery of the disk 24 and registers, with or rather extends across a V-shape notch 3l in the periphery of said disk, as shown by full lines in Fig. 2, and by dotted lines in Fig, 4, for receiving a corresponding V-shape tooth 32 of a detent lever 33. This detent 33 performs the double function of holding the disk -24- and its setting means, as the shaft 20- and index finger 22, in a predetermined normal position, and also of tripping the pawl -25 from engagement with the toothed wheel 19 when the disk and its setting means are restored to such position,

after having been previously set to some other position around the dial.

In the normal position of the setting device, the index finger 2:2- is registered with the zero point of a concentric row of minute graduations numbered in sequence and progressively from right to left in differences of five from zero to sixty upon the face of the dial so as to enable the user to instantly set the index finger -22- of the timing-device to the exact number of minutes, at the end of which the alarm is to be operated, without calculation on the part of the operator.

The detent 33 is spring-pressed into engagement with the periphery of the disk 24 and adjacent edge of the pawl 25 by means of a light spring 85-, and in order that it may perform both of the functions mentioned, the pawl and disk are brought into close relation side by side, as shown in Fig. 3, while the tooth 32- of the detent is of sufiicient width to engage both disk and pawl at the same time.

It is now clear that when the setting-de vice is in its normal position, the tooth 26 of the pawl 25 is out of engagement with the minute wheel 19 of the timing-device, thus permitting the minute spindle 15- to be driven freely in the usual manner without extra load or friction. It is also evident that the beveled faces of the detent tooth -32- and notch 31 engaged thereby and also the beveled faces on the tooth -26 of the pawl 25-, permit the disk 2 1 to be easily set to any desired position by turning through the medium of the index finger :2E2 and spindle -Q'O*, in, which case, the tooth of the detent will first be forced out of the notch -3lagainst the action of the spring -35- and will then ride upon the periphcry of the disk, thus shifting the position of the detent, and at the same time releasing the pawl to allow its tooth 26 to ride across the teeth of the wheel 19- and to frictionally engage between said teeth at the stopping point so that as soon as the indexfinger or operating member 22 is relieved from manual restraint at the end of its position of adjustment, the automatic engagement of the pawl 25 with the clockdriven minute wheel 19- will cause the return of the disk 24 and its setting means to their normal or starting positions, or until the notch 31- in the disk 24 is again registered with the tooth 32 of the detent 33-, whereupon said tooth will be instantly forced into the notch by the pressure of the spring 85, thereby tripping the pawl 25 and stopping further rotation of the disk and its setting means by the clock mechanism.

Alarm controlling mechanism. The

alarm mechanism is normally held inac- -24- when returned to its normal position after having been previously set by the manual adjustment of the index finger -22-,

and for thi'spurpose, I have provided an upright tripping lever -40- pivoted at its lower end at 1 to the clock frame 6 and having its upper end provided with a shoulder 42 for engaging and operating the detent 36- against the action of its retracting spring 38, said tripping lever being forced to its tripping position by a spring as shown in Fig. 2. This trippinglever is normally held against the action ofthe spring 43 by means of a detent 44- which is also pivoted to the frame and is provided with a shoulder 45-- normally engaged by a similar shoulder 46 on the tripping lever 40. This detent 44 is held in engagement with the under side of an extension 47 of the detent 33- by means of a spring -48, the end of the extension 47 terminating a short distance from the shoulder -45 so that when the detent -33 is forced from its normal position against the action of its retracting spring -35 by the adjustment of the index finger -22 from its zero position, the detent 44 will also be forced from its normal. position against the action of its retracting spring 48 by the extension 4 7, thereby disengaging the shoulder 45 of said detent from the shoulder 46 of the tripping lever and allowing-said shoulder 46 to ride upon the upper face of the detent -44- at the inside of. the shoulder 45 and to engage the end face of the extension -17. This movement. of the tripping lever -40 is, however, very slight and not sufficient to cause it 'totrip the detent -36'-; that is,

the tripping lever 40- will be held against tripping the detent 36 until the disk -2 i returns to its normal position to allow the shoulder 32 of the detent 33- to enter the notch -3l-, thereby forcing the extension 47 of the detent 33 out of engagement with the shoulder 46- and allowing said shoulder to slide inwardly along the inner face of the detent 44 to permit the tripping lever 40 to trip the detent 36 and thereby release the alarm mechanism which is then operated by the motor -5 through the medium of the gear train 4 until stopped in a manner presently described.

The period of action of the alarm mechanism is limited to a considerably less degree than that required to spend the force of its motor --5, and preferably to one complete revolution of one of the gears, as '--4, of the train, which gear is, in this instance, timed to make one complete revolution in approximately four seconds, while the unrestrained period of action of the motor might be as many minutes so that by limiting the interval of action, the motor energy is conserved and the necessity for rewinding reduced to a minimum, all of which are important factors in a device of this character.

The spindle, as 50, to which the gear 4 is secured is journaled in the frame 6'- and provided with a cam disk -51 and an eccentric 52, the cam disk 51- serving to control the restoration of the detent 36 to its normal position, while the eccentric -'52 serves to restore the tripping lever 40 to a normal position.

The free end of the detent 36 is pro vided with a lateral offset 53 normally bearing upon the periphery of the cam disk 51, the major portion of the periphery,

of said disk being circular except fora rela tively short length which is reduced in radius to form a recess 54-, into which the projection .v-53 of the detent is adapted to be forced by its spring 38 after the disk has made one complete revolution, resulting from the adjustment of the setting device to some other position other than its normal position.

The upper end of the tripping lever 40- is disposed in the plane of revolution of the eccentric 52 and is preferably recessed at -55 to form warm or shoulder 56' at one side of the eccentric, the latter projecting from its supporting spindle50 away from the arm -56- when the timing-device is at rest.

Immediately following the tripping of the detent 36 to release and allow the operation of the alarm mechanism, under which conditions the arm 56 of the tripping lever 40- will have been moved into close proximity to the low point of the eccentric 52-, the rotation of said eccentric will engage said arm -5f5 and restore the tripping lever 40 to its normal position or into interlocking engagement with its detent -44, this operation being accomplished by approximately one-half revolution of the eccentric 52 whiclnhowever, continues to revolve with the cam disk -5 until the recess 54 of said disk is again registered with the offset -53 of the detent -36' and allows the detent to move-inwardly, thereby causing the shoulder-37 onthe detent to engage the arm 39 on the rock shaft -12- for stopping the alarm, it being understood that the alarm mechanism does not begin its operation until the various parts of .the setting device are automatically restored to their normal positions by the action of the clock mechanism in the manner previously described, and that instantly upon the completion of one revolution of the disk -51- and eccentric 52 the action of the alarm mechanism ceases and its controlling members including the detent 36- and tripping lever 40 are also restored to their normal positions ready for a repetition of the operations hereinbefore described. It is evident, however, that the various parts of the setting device and of the alarm-controlling mechanism brought into action by the restoration of the setting-device to its normal position may be changed without departing from the spirit of this invention and, therefore, I do not limit myself to the precise construction herein shown and described.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with an alarm clock having a dial, a clock train, an alarm mechanism and adetent for the alarm mechanism, of anal'armsetting device normally disconnected from the clock train when in a certain position and having a pointer adjustable at will around the dial, means for establishing connection between the clock train and setting device when the latter is shifted from its normal position to cause said setting device to be.restored to such position,

and means controlled by the setting device for tripping the detent and simultaneously disconnecting the setting device from the c ock train when said setting device is restored to its normal position.

2. The combination with an alarm clock having a dial, a clock train including a tubular minute spindle, an alarm mechanism and a detent for the alarm mechanism, of a shaft extending through the tubular minute spindle from front to rear and rotatable independently thereof, a pointer secured to the front end of the shaft and adjustable therewith around the dial, cooperative connections between the rear ends of the minute spindle and shaft for restoring said shaft and pointer when the latter are adjusted from a certain normal position, and means controlled by said connections for tripping the detent and simultaneously breaking said connections when the shaft and pointer are restored to normal position.

In combination with a clock having a dial, a clock train. and co-axial minute and hour hands movable around the dial, said dial having a concentric row of minute graduations numbered in reverse order from that of the usual minute and hour graduations. a rotary member secured to the minute spindle of the clock train, atime-setting device having a pointer adjustable from a normal position to register with any of the firstnamed graduations, automatic means for ting device with and from the rotary member on the minute spindle as said device is shifted from and returned to its normal position, an alarm mechanism connected to the clock train, including a detent normally holding it from operating, means for tripping the detent when the time-setting device is returned to its normal position, and additional means driven by the alarm mechanism for restoring the detent-tripping means to its normal position to allow the return of the detent to its holding position.

4. In combination with an alarm clock having a dial, a clock train, and co-aXial minute and hour hands, a circular row of minute graduations concentric with the dial and numbered in reverse order to that of the dial, a time-setting device'having a pointer movable around said graduations, a rotary member driven by the clock train, automatic means for connecting the time-setting device to said rotary member when shifted from its normal position to permit the timesetting device to be returned to such position by the clock train, means for forcing said connecting means from its operative position when the time-setting device is restored to its normal position, and means controlled by the last-named means for causing the operation of the alarm.

5. In combination with achronometeractuated mechanism and an inclosing case therefor having a dial plate and a-transparent cover plate, said mechanism having minute and hour hands movable around the dial at the inside of the transparent cover plate, of a timing-device having a settingmember adjustable manually around the dial at the outside of the transparent cover plate and having connections therewith through an opening in said cover plate, said timing-device being free from connection with the chronometer-actuated mechanism when the setting-device is in a certain position, means for automatically connecting the timing-device to said mechanism when the setting-device is shifted from such position to cause the restoration of the setting-device, an alarm, and means brought into action by the ti'mingdevice for operating the alarm only when the setting-device is restored to such position.

6. In an alarm clock, the combination with a clock train and an alarm mechanism, of a detent for the alarm mechanism, a minute wheel driven by the clock train, an alarmsetting device adjustable at will from a certain normal position, means for automatically establishing connection between the setting device and minute wheelwlien the setting deviceis released after being shifted from its normal position to cause said setting device to be positively restored to such position by the minute wheel, and means cooperating with the setting device for breaking said connections and tripping the detent instantly upon the restoration of the setting device to its normal position.

7. In combination with a clock having a dial and coaxial minute and hour hands movable around the same, said dial having a concentric row of graduations numbered in reverse order to that of the clock dial, a time-setting device adjustable from a normal position of rest independently of the clock train and having an index finger movable around said graduations, automatic means for establishing connection between said time-setting device and clock train to cause said device to be restored to its normal position, automatic means for breaking such connection when the setting device is restored to such position, an alarm, and means brought into action by the restoration of the setting device to cause the operation of the alarm.

8. In combination with a clock having the usual dial, hour hand and minute hand, said dial having a concentric row of graduations numbered in reverse order to that of the minute and hour'graduations, the minute s indle of the clock train being hollow and provided with a wheel and a time-settin device adjustable from a normal position 0 rest independently of the clock train and comprising a shaft passing through the minute spindle, an index finger secured to the shaft and movable around said graduations, a disk also secured to the shaft adjacent the minute wheel, a pawl on the disk for engaging the minute wheel whereby rotary motion may be transmitted from the clock train to the timing device to restore the latter to its normal position, a detent normally holding the pawl out of engagement with the minute wheel and also normally holding the disk against rotation, an alarm mechanism, a detent normally preventing the operation of the alarm mechanism, and means brought into action by the first-named detent when restored to its normal position for tripping the detent of the alarm.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 10th day of March, 1915.

CHARLES J. KULLMER. Witnesses:

H. E. CHASE, ALICE M. CANNON. 

